Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
IAUC 2919: 1976b; 1976a; 1975n
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Read IAUC 2920
Circular No. 2919
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
Postal Address: Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
Cable Address: SATELLITES, NEWYORK
Western Union: RAPID SATELLITE CAMBMASS
PERIODIC COMET KOPFF (1976b)
E. Roemer, University of Arizona, reports that she and C. A.
Heller have recovered this comet on exposures with the Steward
Observatory's 229-cm reflector, Kitt Peak, as shown below. The
images are not strong enough to show cometary character, but position
and motion are consistent with the ephemeris on IAUC 2885.
1976 UT R. A. (1950) Decl. m2
Feb. 25.34844 11 04.73 +10 35.8 ~20.5
25.39265 11 04.70 +10 36.1
COMET BRADFIELD (1976a)
D. Herald, Kambah, near Canberra, provides the following precise
position (somewhat uncertain because of the poor star field):
1976 UT R. A. (1950) Decl. m1
Feb. 26.41465 2 25 52.59 -28 26 56.0 11
S. O'Meara, Harvard College Observatory, estimated the total
visual magnitude on Feb. 27.99 UT as 8.5 (23-cm refractor).
COMET WEST (1975n)
E. P. Ney and J. Stoddart, O'Brien Observatory, University of
Minnesota, report the following visual and infrared magnitudes,
obtained on Feb. 25.8 UT with a diaphragm of 20": V = -1.5, R = -2.0,
I = -2.6; 1.2 um, -3.2; 1.6 um, -3.5; 2.2 um, -4.6; 3.5 um, -6.3; 4.8 um,
-7.1; 8.5 um, -8.7; 10.6 um, -9.4; 12.5 um, -9.2.
Further total visual magnitude estimates, coma diameters and
tail information: Feb. 25.94 UT, -3.0, 0'.5, 40' in p.a. 60o (J.
Bortle, Brooks Observatory, 10 x 50 binoculars; comet observed with
naked eye 10 min before sunset); 27.76, -2.4, 0'.5-1', 2'-3' in p.a.
0o (Bortle, 15 x 80 binoculars; in daylight); 29.23, -1.8, -, 2o,
type II (E. Maffei, Italy, 7 x 50 binoculars); 29.45, -1.5, -, 2o
(P. Collins, Duxbury Beach, Massachusetts, 7 x 35 binoculars);
29.47, -1.3, 20"-30", > 1o in p.a. 20o (Bortle, 10 x 50 binoculars;
tail observation naked eye); Mar. 1.22, -0.5 to -1.0, -, > 1o,
fan-shaped (R. M. West, Mount Saleve, Switzerland, 6 x 20 binoculars).
1976 March 1 (2919) Brian G. Marsden
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